[
Box Score]
FAIRBANKS, AK - The 16th-ranked Alaska Nanooks got a good bounce and battled other bounces before clinging to a 4-3 victory over the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks at the Carlson Center.
Freshman center
Chad Gehon (Kelowna, BC/Westside-BCHL) followed a puck that deflected from a meeting of linemates
Ryan Hohl (Northville, MI/Bowling Green-CCHA) and
Ron Meyers (Prince Albert, SK/Lloydminster-AJHL), who crossed sticks while they were moving across the front of the crease.
Gehon collected the carom between the goal line and the right circle, then skated into the low slot to beat Mavericks goaltender Jeremie Dupont with a wrist shot for a 4-1 lead at 7:43 of the second period in the opener of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association series.
“Our line was focused on working hard in their end,” Gehon said. “I was fortunate to get that bounce and I just put it home.”
For the 32 minutes, 17 seconds that followed, the fourth-place Nanooks (6-4-3-3 CCHA, 9-4-4 overall) survived two goals in the second period and long cycles and quality scoring chances in the third from the Mavericks.
“I thought in the third period they were throwing everything at us and we had a pretty gutsy effort,” Alaska assistant coach
Brian Meisner said in the postgame media conference.
Nebraska Omaha head coach Dean Blais thought likewise about the Mavericks (4-7-2-1, 7-7-3).
“A 4-1 lead is real comfortable, and we fought back and didn't give up,” Blais said.
The Nanooks, aided by 31 saves from sophomore goaltender
Scott Greenham (Addison, ON/Oakville-OPJHL), were outshot 24-12 in the last two periods by the Mavericks, who were helped Friday by two assists from junior defenseman Nick Von Bokern, a former Fairbanks Ice Dog.
Alaska took a 3-1 lead in the first period after enjoying a 21-10 advantage in shots.
“We can't take five straight penalties in the first period and hope to survive against a team like the Nanooks,” Blais said.
Alaska responded to a 1-0 deficit 17 seconds into the game by rattling off three straight goals, including its 20th and 21st power-play markers of the season. The Nanooks have now exceeded their power-play total from 2008-09.
“When you get those chances, you've got to bury them,” said sophomore left wing
Carlo Finucci (Burnaby, BC/Burnaby-BCHL), who had two assists in the first.
Dion Knelsen (Three Hills, AB/Drumheller-AJHL) received a hard push into Dupont while he was skating across the crease at 10:56 of the first during a Nanooks power play. Before the senior center went down, he dropped the puck back to
Dustin Sather (Wanham, AB/Grand Prarie-AJHL) and the junior right wing banged it in for the tying goal.
Meyers, a sophomore right wing, tapped in a rebound of defenseman
Dustin Molle's (Anchorage, AK/Waterloo-USHL) shot at 11:23 for the go-ahead goal. At 12:26, Sather buried a rebound of freshman center
Jarret Granberg (Foremost, AB/Brooks-AJHL) and Finucci's shot during Alaska's fifth power play of the period.
The Nanooks had only two penalties to five for the Mavericks, who produced the game's first goal before most of the 2,833 fans were settled in their seats. Senior center Jeric Agosta redirected in Eddie Del Grosso's blast from the left point after the senior defenseman intercepted
Brandon Knelsen's (Three Hills, AB/Drumheller-AJHL) clearing pass.
Not long after Gehon's eventual game-winner, Nebraska Omaha whittled Alaska's lead to 4-3 in the second period.
Senior right wing Nick Fanto, parked at the right post, lifted a power-play rebound over Greenham at 9:17 and freshman right wing Brent Gwidt deposited linemate Terry Broadhurst's centering pass at 11:12.
“Terry made a good play around the net and I just yelled for it,” Gwidt said.
Story has been edited to reflect a scoring correction on Alaska's third goal of the game.